A Northwest Airlines Boeing 747 carrying 414 passengers and crew made an emergency landing at Osaka airport on Thursday after running short of fuel, Kyodo news agency reported.
The jumbo was heading to Tokyo's Narita airport from Detroit when it began running low on fuel because of strong head-winds, Kyodo quoted airport officials as saying.
Northwest Flight 11 left Osaka's Kansai airport in western Japan for Narita after refuelling.
Strong winds around Narita forced 19 flights to switch their destinations to Tokyo's other airport at Haneda as well as other Japanese airports, Kyodo said.
Seventeen of the 19 flights eventually returned to Narita airport, it said. Bureau Report